The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has expressed concerns over what they describe as government's neglect of qualified doctors and dentists across the country.

According to the Association, government’s refusal to post qualified doctors and dentists across the country is taking a toll on Ghana’s health care delivery system.

Speaking at the 59th Annual General Conference of the (GMA) in Kumasi, the President of the GMA, DCOP Dr. E. Ewusi-Emmim, called on the Ministry of Health to address the issue of unemployment among health workers, since it is affecting health delivery in the country.

“The GMA is gravely concerned about the creeping incidence of unemployment for medical doctors and dentists in the country.

Ghana still suffers from abysmal doctor to patient ratio. Several communities and districts in the country do not have medical doctors and dentists to serve them at all, while strained manpower languishes at home.”

“Such facilities continue to be manned by single individuals who tend to be overworked and in most cases cannot even take their annual leave.

It is worrying that newly qualified medical doctors and dentists as well as those who have completed their house jobs are in some cases unemployed, wasting away to the detriment of health care delivery in the country.”

Frustrated jobless Doctor writes to Citi FM, cries over neglect
His comments come weeks after some 245 trained, but unemployed doctors questioned the efforts of the Health and Finance Ministries in absorbing them into the public service.

The doctors, who graduated in 2014, indicated that all efforts to secure financial clearance for their absorption have proved futile, while many hospitals lack doctors, putting the lives of patients at risk.

In a heartfelt petition to Citi News to highlight their plight, a doctor, John-Diego Kosoe, lamented the dire situation of his colleagues who are idle.

This, according to Mr. Kosoe has even compelled some doctors to leave Ghana for greener pastures.
The petitioner noted that, “out of frustration, I know 3 of my colleagues who contracted huge personal loans and left the country for Germany, just to hustle out there, to do German language courses and get absorbed into their system.”

As it stands now, Ghana has one doctor attending to about 10, 450 patient. This is far below the one doctor to 5000 patients ratio per the recommendations of the Commonwealth, and the 1 doctor to 1,320 patients per the recommendations from WHO.